Tim Worstall

A householder has been left with a £225 bill and a criminal conviction after over-filling his bin.

There was a time when we were largely a law abiding nation. The implicit deal was that there weren’t that many laws which we had to obey and there was great social pressure upon people to obey them. A […]

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The member of the Royal Family at the centre of an alleged £50,000 blackmail plot will not have to enter the witness box.
…
If he entered the witness box, he feared that he would be exposed in the same way that Prince Harry’s secret Army mission to Afghanistan was reported in Britain after it was disclosed […]

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This all seems very strange to me I must say:

In a blow to Des Browne, the Defence Secretary, a senior judge said troops in combat zones have a "right to life" at all times, even while under fire on the battlefield.

Makes you rather wonder whether the politicians actually read and understood the Human Rights Act […]

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Hard cases make bad law. In this case I think it might be the other way around.

Abu Qatada, described as “Osama bin Laden’s right-hand man in Europe”, won his fight against deportation yesterday as the Court of Appeal delivered two blows to attempts to remove suspected terrorists from the country. Three judges blocked the deportation […]

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OK, so these guys are alleged to have been plotting to blow up airliners. Here’s how the bombs were supposed to work.
Is that the same bomb making method that was so compehensively shown to not work those couple of years ago? Or a different one?
Doesn’t matter all that much to the court case of course: […]

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From Guido, via email.
This.
Yes, they’re reviving the Abolition of Parliament Bill (aka the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill) through the Constitutional Reform Bill.
Any Minister may reform any Act through the use of a Statutory Instrument.
Bye bye Parliamentary democracy, and a big Hellooo! to Henry VIII th powers.
Yes, this is a big issue, yes, it does […]

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Not quite I think:

There’s a lawyers’ saying about people such as Heather Mills who represent themselves in court - the client who chooses himself as his lawyer is a fool.

Isn’t the phrase rather, he who chooses to represent himself has a fool for a lawyer?

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Eeeek!

Finally, to help the FSA do its job, we need a formal process of plea bargaining in a financial court. Our prosecutors’ record on white collar crime is so dismal because we tie one hand behind their backs.
In the face of potential financial ruin there is often little incentive other than to plead not guilty […]

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How did we end up being ruled by this ghastly little spiv?

Des Browne, the Defence Secretary, has gone to the High Court in an attempt to prevent coroners criticising the Ministry of Defence at military inquests.

Coroners are one of the most ancient parts of our legal system and they exist for a very specific reason. […]

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There’s a reason for this you know?

The point at issue, though, is much broader: the law suggests that she has a “natural” right to a slice of her exhusband’s fortune; even Paul has resigned himself to this. And yet what moral justification is there for such a claim? I dare say Mr Justice Bennett, with […]

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The planned new Bill of Rights.

The new Bill of Rights will not be legally enforceable, the Justice Secretary is set to admit.
Jack Straw is expected to indicate that it is likely to set out a framework of collective values aimed at fostering a sense of national pride.

Given that it will contain economic and social rights, […]

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MINISTERS want to block the phone numbers of prostitutes who advertise their services in newspapers and telephone booths in an attempt to stifle the illegal sex trade.
Police forces would identify suspected prostitutes to the telephone companies, which would be required to cut off their numbers.

Have we actually had the government taken over by raving lunatics?
A […]

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I have to admit that this whole furure over the recognition of sharia law or not in the UK has me rather bemused. Giggling even.

Senior religious leaders attack multiculturalism and sharia law today, warning that they are "disastrous", socially divisive and are destroying Britain’s culture and values.

It’s not just the oft used comparison with aspects […]

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Discuss.

Poker is a game largely dependent on luck, the Court of Appeal ruled yesterday.

I’ve a vague feeling (based on nothing more substantial than a dimly remembered novel) that thisquestion has been asked a number of times in English law, and that the answer has varied over the years.  Different Gaming Acts and court rulings have […]

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Do we, in the UK, have a statute of limitations?
I don’t think so, do we?
So if someone had, say, smoked pot, 30 years ago, they could still be prosecuted?
No, I know, they wouldn’t be, but they could be?

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A reminder of why we actually have a legal system, judges and all:

The High Court judge said that “on the face of it” social services acted unlawfully in taking the baby away from the 18-year-old mother without obtaining a court order.
Mr Justice Mumby said that the officials involved in the Nottinghamshire case “should have known […]

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According to The Guardian not enough women or ethnic minorities are being appointed as High Court judges.

But a Guardian review of selection shows that those appointed since last September are remarkably similar to those selected under the old process. All 10 are white male former barristers and six of the nine educated in Britain went […]

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Please fuck right off.

Proposals, to be agreed by Baroness Scotland QC, the Attorney-General, at a meeting of EU justice ministers next week, enshrine "procedural" guidelines setting out the circumstances for quick extradition of people convicted in their absence.
A draft text, seen by The Daily Telegraph, notes that existing rules do not "deal consistently with the […]

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Damn this is supremely annoying.

Europe is Europe’s last remaining realistic political utopia. But Europe remains to be understood and conceptualised. This historically unique form of international community cannot be explained in terms of the traditional concepts of politics and the state, which remain trapped in the straitjacket of methodological nationalism. If we are to understand […]

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Well, the G does have a go at it. Somewhat unconvincing though. Their rape victim used as a story was a escort raped by a client (tortured very badly as well). Yes, it is still rape but it’s perhaps not the most representative of tales to use. The lawyer though is highly amusing.

Miranda Moore QC, […]

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